Chronicles of Demeter: The Blue Savior
by Corialos
Summary: Humanity has left Earth long ago and made their new home on the Planet of Demeter. But when an old enemy long forgotten returns from beyond the stars to finish the job of killing, who will be able to save them? A rewrite of an old story I wrote under a previous account.
1. The Set-Up

A/N: Hello, readers. As mentioned on my profile for all my old readers, ReaperofNameless is back, with a new name and new drive to write. To all my new readers, I say—"Hello." Well, let's not waste time. Let's get started, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any of its related properties, as Capcom is the sole owner of the franchise.

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Year 1225 A.E. (After Exodus): 26th Secondary Lunar Cycle, Harvest Season. Location: Apollo City Stadium, Planet Demeter.

"_In the beginning, there was Light and Darkness."_

Rocky yawned, covering his open maw with his fist and struggling to stay awake. He hated going to the Elder's recitations, they always bored him to no end. It didn't help that the Elder had his face up on the giant screens of the Apollo City stadium, his steely blue eyes staring down at the hundred thousand some-odd patrons who came to visit. He shifted uncomfortably in his plastic seat; he could tell from the opening lines that the Elder was going to be telling _that_ story again—the Saga of Earth.

"_It was the Time of New Gods, and the Light saw fit to create a new Life upon the bosom of his Holy Mother, Earth. He dug the metal from her body and from the flashes of her eye, he crafted the first Sentient Machine, a boy named for the rock and steel from which he was cast. The Light showed his son to the others living on the Holy Mother, and They saw that it was good."_

Rocky snorted. Why did his high school have to pick today, of all days, to take a field trip to the stadium for the Elder's sermon? He was supposed to be taking his motorcycle driving test today, and he would be done by now had his school closed when it was supposed to. He looked around. All the instructors and even some of the other students stood at attention, enraptured by the Elder's words. Most others seemed really bored. Some had even fallen asleep in their seats, not wanting to listen to the giant old man that stood in front of them. Rocky wondered how it was that the instructors didn't notice, before turning again to the screen to at least look like he was paying attention, so as not to attract the dirty looks the sleeping students were getting from the instructors.

"_As the Light pondered over what next to Create," _continued the droning boom of the voice over the loudspeakers as the Elder stood at the epicenter of the grassy stadium's field, perusing the scrolls and religious texts hanging in front of him like a sheet, _"He found that the Boy had become lonely, wanting for more of his kind. And so the Light looked down upon his Son and smiled as he gave him a companion, the second Sentient Machine, who was female in kind. The Light them gave his children the gift of Purpose, and put them to work in assisting his Creation. The Light saw that this was good and loved them as family."_

Rocky slumped in his chair, the boredom rising to uncomfortable levels. He scanned his classmates for his friend Ian, and lo he found the head of dyed emerald hair sitting two rows down from him. He tore a piece of paper out of his notebook and crumpled it up.

"_While the Light continued Creating more of the Boy's kind and generally forming the New Race, his Other—the Darkness—set about the beginnings of a plan. The Darkness was jealous of the Light's Creations and their love for him, and the adoration it brought him from all who lived upon the support of Earth, and so the Darkness stole the members of the New Race and corrupted them for His own devices. The original Boy and Girl, favored among the Light's children—escaped this fate."_

Rocky wound his arm back and tossed the paper ball at Ian's head. The other boy turned around, his green eyes glaring up at the perpetrator, before catching Rocky, his scarred face contorting into a smile. Ian waved, before catching the reproachful glance of Instructor Wilson, their history teacher, forcing the boys to dutifully turn forward and endure the droning of the Elder's magnified voice.

"_The Light became saddened, seeing that his Creations would be used against the world with the Darkness' corruption. So the Boy offered himself to be the Light's instrument, and the lo, so it was that the Light changed the Boy so that he may be reborn as the Mega, the First Warrior—sent on a holy quest to Cleanse the Dark Machines so that they may benefit Mankind once more. The Darkness saw the Mega, and so crafted the Second Warrior, the Proto, brother to the Mega and crafted from the ruins of Mega's discarded predecessor, the prototype._

_The two Brothers fought fiercely, and eventually the Mega did succeed in his Holy Crusade, cleansing the Dark Machines and his brother, ending the First Robot War. But the Darkness unleashed another Dark Warrior upon the world to fight the Mega, known as the Bass. But the Darkness could not have foreseen that the Third Warrior would choose not to serve him but instead to destroy the Mega for his own purpose of fulfilling his pride in a quest for supremacy. This battle shook the Earth to Her core, awakening some of the Darkness' older and fouler Creations as they attempt to free their Dark Master and renew his conquest. This marked the beginning of the Second Robot War, which nearly brought Humanity to ruin."_

Rocky could feel his eyelids begin to droop. _I hope this ends soon,_ he thought to himself. In an attempt to keep himself occupied, he pulled out a sketchpad from his backpack and began to doodle. He drew a little mini Grim Reaper with two circles for eyes and no face under his hood, the scythe towering over the little guy. A piece of folded paper was thrown into his lap by someone sitting next to him. He looked at it curiously, and looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching as he opened it. Meanwhile, the Elder continued to speak:

"_The Light took the Mega away from the conflict and improved him, putting the Mega into stasis so the machines could continue rebuilding the Android while the Light saw his own life fading away. The Darkness, sensing His own imminent demise, did the same for the Mega's darker twin the Proto, captured from the battlefield and rebuilt as an Android to serve His purposes once again after death. Both Warriors died the night of the Light and Darkness' passing, and were reborn anew as part of a new beginning, the New Mega taking on the name of X, and the New Proto beginning again from Zero. _

_And so the Fourth and Fifth Warriors were born, to fight together for a time before splitting the world into two once more. _Thus ends the Saga of Light and Darkness, the first chapter of the Demeter Chronicles."

The Elder finally finished with his story, Rocky opened up his note to find _"This is pretty lame. You wanna bail?"_ scrawled in Ian's sloppy handwriting. Before Rocky could scribble a reply, the Elder drew up his scrolls to loud applause throughout the stadium. Rocky quickly scratched out a _"Yeah, definitely,"_ and slid it down to Ian under the seats, gathering up his stuff to duck out quickly before people sat back down and the Elder started his speech about the significance of the holy texts. Rocky must have heard it a thousand times while attending Sanctuary with his parents. What could it possibly hurt to miss one?

They met towards the back of the seats, narrowly avoiding the eye of Instructor Wilson, and paused outside the stadium double doors. "So how long do you think before the Elder finishes his sermon?" asked Rocky.

"At least another hour," replied Ian. "Wanna grab something to eat?"

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A/N: Sorry I didn't have a better opener, but I'm trying to be at least somewhat faithful to my original intention. This should be the last expository dump I have to make in this fashion (for now, anyway), so you shouldn't have to worry about such big, intrusive blocks of text in the future. Prepare for more updates come Sunday, April 14th.


	2. The Interlopers

A/N: So here begins the story proper. Like its previous version, it begins in front of a mansion. I'm happy to see some of you are already following it. I hope you enjoy the ride. Don't forget to read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any of its related properties, as they fall under the sole ownership of Capcom and its subsidiaries.

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_Later that same day…_

"Dude. No way," cried Rocky, his jaw dropping open as he stared at the building Ian brought them to.

The Forbidden Mansion stood like a solitary grave marker against a graying cloudy sky, its lawn overgrown with vines and weeds stretching and choking the life out of whatever other foliage that might have grown on the mansion's grounds, even over the old cobblestone walls, their path obstructed by the pavement beneath Rocky's feet. The windows were blacked out, covered in smears, and the masonry was cracking under the house's wooden frame, and a few of the front doors were broken. The gates that barred the entrance of the two teenagers were made of old rusted iron, but the padlock keeping them shut was new.

Ian looked over at his dumbfounded friend. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? Are you trying to get us imprisoned? You know it's called 'the Forbidden Mansion' for a reason."

"And that reason is?" When Ian saw that Rocky wasn't convinced, he turned to his friend and said, "You remember that radio prank we pulled two months ago?"

Rocky felt that Ian had totally lost it. Oh, he remembered, all right—during the cold season two months before, he and Ian underwent a prank that involved taking control of the school's intercom and faking a radio broadcast of an alien invasion. Rocky remembered being pretty proud of their performances—they were so convincing that the school erupted into a minor panic while the instructors hunted them down. When they were inevitably caught, the dean punished them with a week's worth of detention and a call home, ultimately leading to a long period of grounding for the boys, much to their chagrin.

Rocky looked at Ian as though he might have just spontaneously combusted right in front of him. "Dude, you're telling me you want to break into the grounds of what is probably the most valuable and spiritually important property on all of Demeter for a _prank?_"

Immediately his friend grabbed him by the shoulders. "Come on; think about it, for a second! Remember all those questions Dean Malevich asked—how he thought we'd already been inside? What did he say to us when we said we had no idea what he was talking about?"

Rocky thought back to that day. He recalled that the Dean had told him to be grateful that they weren't expelled, along with…a reminder to stay away from the mansion. Rocky's eyes widened, telling Ian that he remembered. "And you didn't think that it was a little weird? And it wasn't just the Dean—the whole school faculty was in on it, hell, even my parents gave me a really weird look, and they're just a couple of bureaucrats."

"Okay, yeah, so it's weird. How does that make breaking into the Mansion any less of a bad idea? This isn't just some high school prank, this is planetary law! What if we get caught?"

Ian grimaced. "Listen to yourself, 'get caught'…look, man!" He gestured all around him.

The street in front of the grounds was empty; there was nothing but farmland all the way around them and the Mansion—they were on the outskirts of Apollo city, where one could spot some of the large, technically advanced Prehistoric Relics assigned to the _Scion Agricultural Foundation_ tending to the fields a few miles out. The nearest bus stop into town was fifteen yards away, and the tourist vans don't visit on Thursdays—a fact which Rocky was fully aware. Running out of excuses, Rocky put his hands on his head, nearly pulling his hair out and grunting in frustration.

Ian raised his arms in a pleading gesture. "I just want to know what they're hiding from us."

Rocky sighed. Much as he hated to admit it, Ian was right—and he could do with a few answers himself. "Alright, fine. We go in; we look around, and come straight out. Leave before anyone comes looking, right?"

Ian grins. "Right. It's just another prank."

Rocky nods with a smile. "Alright. So, how do we get inside?"

The taller green-haired boy looked to the cobblestone wall, covered in vines. He reached out to tug on some vines, and said with a smirk, "We'll climb it. Come on, let's go."

Rocky nodded, grabbing a handful of vines himself before stepping into a groove between cobblestones. As they hauled themselves up, Rocky peered over the wall into the grounds and noticed something else that was odd. "You'd think they'd post guards here, if this place were so important."

Ian hauled himself over and dropped to the ground, Rocky following behind. "Eh," he said with a shrug, "in the over twelve hundred years since the place was built, and the other two hundred plus that it's been declared off-limits, I guess it's just never occurred to anyone to look inside."

The two boys scurried across the yard, keeping their heads low—just in case—and after dancing around the crumbling fountain, they found themselves at the old oaken double doors, which turned out to be locked. "Damn," said Ian, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I guess with this mighty lock in our way, there's _no way_ we could _possibly_ find the wonderful mysteries located inside."

"Here," Rocky chuckled. He walked up to the door and kicked at the lock three times, and on the third it swung open.

"Shit man," Ian said, startled. "I thought you were worried about getting caught."

"I was," said Rocky, "But there are no guards, and without neighbors or tourists to worry about, I figure we'll be long gone before anybody sees that there was a break-in."

"What, after all that complaining you did about us getting imprisoned?"

Rocky shrugged. "Look, are we going in, or what? We're already in too deep at this point." That much was true. Rocky figured that if he was going to break planetary law and violate international treaties like this, he might as well go all the way.

Ian just shook his head, muttering an astonished curse under his breath as he passed his new partner in crime and led the way inside.

They found themselves in what must have been at one point a beautiful reception hall, with a huge grand staircase whose floor was sunken in from a fallen chandelier, the carpet moth-eaten and rotting so that the original pattern was unidentifiable. A gloom had invaded the house, swimming through the air and sinking deep into the faded cream-colored walls. Paintings lined the walls on the second floor, the colors drained out of them as their tiny inhabitants stretched as far as they could to distance themselves from the intruders. Everything about the house seemed hostile, from the pungent odor of mildew and mold and the open doors of rooms that have caved in due to the weakened infrastructure. A small table lay next to the foot of the staircase, one of its legs broken. From what Rocky could see, not counting the entrance, there were five possible doorways to choose from—one on the second floor had been blocked by a block of wood fallen from the ceiling—he doubted either of them could move it.

Ian whistled. "Now, all of a sudden, it seems like it might have been a bad idea to have fired the caretakers when the High Elder banned people from entering."

Rocky nodded in agreement, before turning to his friend. "So how are we going to do this?"

Ian pointed with his thumb to his backpack, which he pulled off and unzipped so he could show off what he brought. Among its contents were two flashlights, six water bottles, a couple of walkie-talkies, and a camera. "I figured I'll take the camera upstairs and look around, while you take this floor. Either of us finds something interesting or if one of us falls down a hole and needs help, we'll call over the radio."

Rocky eyed the hole in the staircase where the old chandelier fell, not trusting the integrity of the stairs. "You sure you want to go up there, Ian?"

Ian shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Alright, if you say so." Rocky grabbed three water bottles and a radio, turning on the latter and stepping away a few feet. "Check, check," he muttered.

Ian depressed the button on his radio. "I hear you, check." Rocky nodded and gave him a thumbs-up. "Meet back down here, in…what, twenty, thirty minutes?"

Rocky nodded, and while Ian started slowly climbing up the stairs, hugging the railing to avoid the hole in the floor, Rocky called up, "Hey, be careful, alright?" Ian flashed a thumbs-up. With that, Rocky walked through the nearest door on the south side of the room.

Rocky stepped inside to find himself in some sort of cooking area, and he had to immediately clamp his nostrils shut to keep from vomiting from the smell. The moisture from the rusted pipes and faucet have allowed some many different species of mold to grow and strangle the air with its foul pollen. Above the sink were many cabinets, rotted out and filled with a lot of unlabeled cans and jars. There was what he assumed to be a stove in the island at the middle of the kitchen, but it was like no stove he had ever seen—it was black and grimy, but when he wiped the dust off, he saw the top to be made of shiny glass, and covered with an array of buttons and symbols. Rocky gasped in surprise, immediately regretting it as the stench of mildew invaded his mouth—this stove was far more advanced than any cookware he'd ever seen. It probably predated the A.A.T.I. (Anti-Advanced Technology Initiative) one of the past High Elders placed into law hundreds of years ago.

He looked around some more—quickly, as he didn't want to stay in the presence of the smell much longer, and found a door to some kind of cellar. Curious about the stairs leading down into the darkness, he flipped on his flashlight to illuminate the steps before going down, taking care to step gingerly in case of rotting wood. At the bottom, he found himself in a cave that stunk like someone who hadn't showered in years, the brick and masonry stretching inward about a yard before giving way to bedrock. At the other side of the room was another door, this one curiously well-preserved; it was simple wood with iron hinges and a simple knocker, rather than the metal doorknobs bound in ornately carved doors they saw topside.

Rocky was about to investigate, before he remembered that he should probably check in on Ian's status. He pushed the button on his radio. "Hey, Ian. How're things on your end?"

A crackle of static burst over the radio. "Um, haven't found much so far. Saw a few rooms that were blocked off. Found a couple of bedrooms, and what I think is a study. There are some old books on the shelf in here. I can't read most of them, between the paper crumbling or the ink being smudged, but I think some of these might be legible. What about you? You find anything?"

Rocky put the walkie-talkie to his lips. "I found a kitchen, and a door to the cellar. Cellar's basically just a cave—it's empty, nothing to see."

"Any valuables? Wine caskets, maybe old food storage?"

"No no, nothing like that. There is a door on the other side though I want to check out. I'll let you know if I find anything."

Rocky clipped his radio back on the belt loop of his jeans and gingerly pushed the door open, peering into the darkness. Shining his flashlight, he found himself confronted with a long tunnel, stretching forward and moving downhill. "Whoa," he whispered. He started heading down this new passageway, not noticing as he trod when he passed through a thin sliver of red light painting the hall the space in front of him, like a hazy screen. He simply walked straight through due to his flashlight obscuring its presence.

At the end of the hall, Rocky nearly fell over as the tunnel ended with a hole into empty space. Accidentally kicking a loose stone, it flew into the space before him, and fell with a plunk on a surface that sounded suspiciously out of place for a mansion of wood, brick and masonry. Shining his light forward, he found that there was a floor just a foot below him, and tentatively placed a foot down only to be relieved at finding that the ground is stable. When he stepped out of the hole and examined his surroundings, he found himself in a hallway with two doors on either end, where the walls—he was surprised to find—were not made of stone, but of _metal_, obviously not natural, but shaped with human hands. _Were all mansions built like this in the old days?_ Rocky asked himself.

He pulled out his walkie-talkie to relay a short message to Ian. "Dude, get down here, you've got to see this!"

He walked up to the nearest bulkhead and saw a panel next to it. He remembered seeing illustrations of a panel like this in some of his father's old books; sometimes the Elders even mentioned them in their stories—it was some sort of device used to open a door instead of doorknobs, where portals can admit entry by sliding themselves into the wall instead of people having to open them on hinges. Rocky placed his hand on the cool glass of the panel to wipe off the grime and was startled when the glass started to light up before his eyes, with a picture of his hand superimposed on the screen. Green circles appeared over the thumb and fingertips, and the image of the hand disappeared in favor of its prints. Rocky watched in amazement as the screen blipped yellow and words began to appear in red text:

_Finger and Hand-Print Analysis Complete._

_Scan Results: Unidentifiable. Requires further processing._

_Will user consent to a DNA and eye scan?_

_Y/N_

"What the hell?" Rocky was dumbfounded. What exactly was a DNA scan supposed to be? What did this strange device want from him? Tapping the screen randomly, he eventually touched the option, "Y," causing the screen to blip yellow again. A recess in the wall slid open, and out jumped an empty metal tube jutting out of the wall and what looked like some weird contraption with two identical holes side by side. Rocky slid his finger into the tube, and felt a prick, making him yank his finger back out, sucking on it.

"What the-?"

The words on the screen now read, "THANK YOU. PLEASE LOOK INTO SCANNER." Rocky was wary of the object; what if it wanted to poke his eyes out as well? But he gave in and looked inside to see the words _HOLD STILL_ in big, bold letters before being assaulted by a blinding flash of light.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked at the screen angrily, before stopping short to read the words;

_Scan complete. Identity confirmed._

_Welcome, General X._

_Did…did that thing just call me 'X'?_ Rocky's eyes widened.

But before Rocky could think further about the implications of this, he was assaulted by a loud, horrible screeching noise as the wall opened its gaping mouth before him, metal sliding against metal to allow for their first visitor in over twelve hundred years. Finally, the door stood stuck, halfway open. Seeing that it obviously wasn't going to open again, Rocky had just enough room to squeeze through. Walking further through the rusted corridor, he eventually found himself in a stairwell, moving down a floor. He stopped to take a short break. And take a drink of water before picking up his radio. "Hey Ian, what's taking you? Get your ass down here! I've found something."

He waited five minutes before shrugging and walking out into a square room with five doors. When he approached the first on he saw, he walked in through the automatically opening door—the thing still unnerved him—to a small closet-sized space, with another panel on the wall next to the door. This one didn't have a screen, but a series of buttons, each with a number written next to it. Curious, he tapped the button on the very bottom, labeled "B-4," the door closed, trapping him in.

Right as he was about to try and force the door open, he felt the closet move, and began to panic, hyperventilating curses between his lips at every breath as the room moved downward, at an angle. The scared teen felt his stomach sink as the closet finally stopped with a beep, doors sliding open. Rocky just about leaped out, clutching the wall of the hallway for dear life—no one ever told him that the Earth Dwellers had made rooms that _moved._ The very idea seemed impossible to him.

He looked around. Another hallway, much less rusted than the one he was in previously. He wandered around, down steps, peering into rooms as he passed. A lot of them held devices he never knew existed—tables with arms attached; screens with keyboards and levers; oddly-colored pipes and glass tubes with swimming liquids colored blue, green, black and silver; some very strangely-shaped chairs with cushions—and covering it all were buttons, buttons, everywhere! What possible use would the Earth Dwellers have for so many flashing buttons and lights?

Eventually, Rocky entered a room that was nothing but brightly-colored screens and panels from wall to wall. In the middle of the room there was some sort of cylindrical terminal, with light shining from the top. Rocky lost his grip on his flashlight and dropped it on his foot, hissing in pain. When he leaned onto a nearby wall to nurse the stubbed toe and curse the offending flashlight, he saw a round hole in the wall—not made from damaged, as it was too smooth. The hole was built in. He peered inside, seeing nothing but darkness and what looked like something flashing. He reached in to grab it, before a sudden wave of pain shot up his shoulder.

Suddenly, tears were in his eyes. He couldn't see or feel anything else but pain. He fell back from the hole, his head colliding with the terminal. His vision blurred as he grasped at the source of his pain with his other hand, only to find nothing there. He swatted with his left hand, searching for his arm so he could massage the pain away, but the hand came up with nothing. His right side was wet. Why was his right side wet? A horrible sinking sensation fell into the pit of his stomach as he grasped at his shoulder, where he found out where the sticky wet sensation was coming from.

Amidst Rocky's screams and the terrifying mechanical noises coming from the (now closed) hole in the wall, a deep, monotonous voice could just barely be heard:

"_DNA VERIFICATION COMPLETE. PLEASE REINSERT FOR INSTALLATION."_

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A/N: So there's the second chapter, completely rewritten. Even though it's basically the same sequence of events, I've got to say, I really dig this new version. Not only is there much less info dumping in the dialogue, but the grammatical structure's much cleaner, there are no more spelling errors, and even some more detail written into the setting then I put in it last time.

Plus, it helps that the third-person perspective is apparently WAY easier to write. Who knew?

So yeah, Cori likes. But who cares what I think? Why don't you review, and give me your thoughts on this new draft? I should have the next chapter up by either tomorrow or Monday, so be sure to be watching. Thanks for reading!

Peace!


	3. The Arm

**A/N: So here we are again. Rocky has just lost an arm, and after feeling some phantom pain, has now begun to go into shock. How is he going to get out of this one? That is up to you to find out.**

**Anyway, I just wanted to put some news out there before we begin: I'm going to update the author's notes on my profile, so check there for more details, but I also plan on putting up the first chapter of "Lost Memories" up sometime this week.**

**That was all. I won't waste any more of your time. On with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any of its related properties. That ownership belongs solely to Capcom.**

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After a few minutes, Rocky's screams stopped. He just sat there, shaking as his mind went into shock and he began very quickly bleeding to death. Through the sound of the dripping of his missing appendage, he could just barely register the sound of the deep monotonous voice once again echoing from the walls:

"_DNA VERIFICATION COMPLETE. PLEASE REINSERT ARM FOR INSTALLATION."_

Rocky fell over. _No thanks,_ he thought to himself. _I think I'd rather just lay here and bleed to death._

"You might want to go ahead and plug yourself in," said another voice, someone new, more feminine and completely unlike the mechanical monotone. It came from above Rocky's head. He looked up and wiped his eyes and nose and found himself staring at a beautiful woman, or rather, the one-foot tall, blue and transparent image of a woman standing on the lighted terminal in the middle of the room. He dragged himself up and pulled himself to stand, clutching his bloody stump.

"What'd you just say to me?"

The Doll-Woman pointed at the hole that ate Rocky's arm, which was now closed and replaced with two suspicious metal spikes. "That plug. You slide it into your open shoulder, and you'll be repaired."

"_Repaired?_ What do I look like, a machine?" Rocky didn't know who this strange woman of light was, but he was already sure he didn't trust her.

"Of course not. This process was designed with organics in mind. Now listen, because you don't have a lot of time. You notice how your bleeding has been accelerated?"

Rocky didn't but he sure realized it now, and he was beginning to panic. He started screaming. "Oh shit, what do I do?"

The woman smiled, and it made the now one-armed amputee angry. _What the fuck is she smiling about? I'm missing my fucking ARM, and here she is, grinning like an idiot!_

"Don't worry, it just means that the drugs injected to slow the bleeding are beginning to wear off, so you'll need to act fast before the shock wears off too, and the pain sets in. All you need to do is slide the stump over the metal prongs of the plug, and let the console do the rest."

Rocky opened his mouth to give a biting retort, before sighing and shuffling over to the console, realizing that he really didn't have the time to argue. Removing his left hand that he was using in a desperate attempt to hold the blood in, he positioned his stump over the six-inch long metal prongs and shoved, grimacing with pain and discomfort as the cold metal pierced the meat and muscle around the bone and crawled up the stump and into his shoulder. A loud _clang _was heard as a clamp wrapped around the flesh, and a hissing sound was heard, accompanied by the following announcement, _"MORPHINE ADMINISTERED."_

Suddenly Rocky felt a sudden wave of euphoria crashing through his body, his pain suddenly gone. His heart rate began to slow, his panicked breathing resuming its normal pace. A slight worry entered the back of his mind as he calmed down. This sudden peace was clearly not natural—the 'morphine' the walls spoke of; did he just get pumped full of some kind of drug?

Meanwhile, the metal inserted into his stump twisted and pulsed, until finally, the clamp opened, and the walls declared with finality, _"INSTALLATION COMPLETE."_

The Doll-Woman bent over on her cylindrical stage of light, as though to inspect the strange visitor that had come before her to meddle with her home. _Likely thinking I got what I deserved,_ Rocky thought ruefully.

The figure of light smiled and gestured to the boy. "Well? Aren't you going to take out your arm and have a look?"

Rocky scowled, his rage burning hot. "Take…out…my…_arm?_" he muttered.

In a flash of blue, Rocky pulled out his appendage and waved a navy-colored finger at the immaterial creature that taunted him. "Lady, you've got some nerve! Did you not just see what happened! My fucking _ARM_ just got cut off and you go grinning like an idiot and taunting….me?"

Rocky trailed off as he got a better look at the thing he was waving at the woman, his anger giving way to astonishment. There it was—it shouldn't have been possible, but it was right before him—its cold blue carapace glinting in the dim light shining from the console the woman stood on; it was a new limb, same size and length as his old one. The only difference was that the forearm was slightly larger and crisscrossed with grooves. It was an arm—his arm, and yet also not his, like it belonged to someone else. Both hands attached to his body, one of flesh, the other metal. He made a fist with his left arm. The other made a fist. He clenched and unclenched both hands, only feeling the sensation of pressure in one, eyes wide and unable to believe what they saw.

He turned to the specter that had returned his arm to him. "What the hell did you just do to me?"

She cocked her head. "What do you mean? I'm just the interface. You inserted your arm, didn't you? The graft was completely voluntary."

Rocky cocked a disbelieving eyebrow. "And you didn't think it'd be a good idea to say something? Weren't you there the whole time?"

The illumined specter shook her head, standing up straight and putting her fists on her hips. "I've been at work keeping the systems operational, as per my last orders. I didn't even know you were in here sticking your arm in. Once I saw you doing it, I figured my job was finished; that you were here to get me out. You're telling me you stuck your arm in a machine and you didn't even know what it does?"

A metal hand rubbed the back of Rocky's head, and he paused in surprise before putting his new arm down at his side. "Fine. My fault. So you mind explaining to me why it took my arm, then?"

The specter's eyes went wide. "You mean you don't know?" She leaned forward again. "Who are you? You're not an engineer?"

"Hey! Considering I'm the one who lost an arm coming into this place, maybe _you_ should be telling me who _you_ are! Where am I? What is this place?"

The specter turned a violent shade of red. "All questions are classified until your identity can be obtained! Doing a scan."

An awkward pause filled the room as the specter glared menacingly at Rocky, who glared back. The silence lasted for almost a minute, and soon Rocky lost his annoyance and got restless. He opened his mouth to say something when the specter suddenly sprang up with a gasp, making Rocky jump.

"You're…."

"I'm…what?" Now Rocky was simply confused.

"Impossible. Scans read you as General X?"

The boy's eyes went wide again. "_What?_" He was in full agreement with the specter now—not only did it sound impossible, but it was completely insane. Wasn't the Fourth Warrior supposed to be a machine man himself? "Excuse me, lady," Rocky said, waving his blue arm, "But do I _look_ like a machine to you?" He went red at the sight of his new prosthetic. "Not counting this, of course," he said sheepishly.

The woman said, "No," and placed forefinger and thumb to her chin in thought. "Could it be…Project EVA worked…?"

Rocky's ears perked up at that. "Project EVE?"

The specter shook her head. "Never mind about that. It's classified. Anyway, scans read that you are entitled to certain security clearances, but you're obviously _not_ General X. So who are you?"

Rocky tilted his head. "I'm Rocky. I'm a kid from Apollo City. Who or what on Demeter are you?"

The specter waved her hand, and several ethereal displays of complicated-looking graphs, mathematics and models of what Rocky could only assume were complex pieces of machinery floated before her. "I am the Self-automated Anti-spacecraft weapon and Radar Array, codenamed, SARA. I am a 'smart' artificial intelligence created for ship-to-ship defense and tasked with managing all internal systems of the E-Class Cruiser, the _Prometheus,_ placed in temporary command of the ship, for as long as all personnel are on leave. General X himself tasked me with the defense of this installation station, saying it was important."

Rocky scratched the back of his head, unable to speak from the shock of what he was hearing. "So…this whole place of steel and plastic tech…this is a spaceship?" He pondered the strangeness of it all—with technological innovation beyond contemporary medical and scientific knowledge being made illegal; there was no way that the law would allow for this place's existence. How long has it been down here?

Then Rocky had another thought about the implications of Sara's statement. "Wait…you mean you knew the Fourth Warrior X _personally?_ That's impossible! You'd have to be at _least_ over twelve hundred fifty years old!"

Sara made the displays disappear with the flick of a finger, and sat down on her projector. "Older than that, kid. General X himself was over two hundred years old when he found this planet—Demeter, you call it?—before touching down to begin terraforming. I've been on this ship since it left Earth. I guess you could say that was where I was born."

Rocky was floored by her mention of Earth. If the Elders of Demeter could've been here to hear _this!_ "You've been alive since before the Exodus?"

Sara shook her head. "Poor wording. I'm an artificial construct; I'm not 'alive,' as you think of it. But yes, I was built before the human exodus off of Earth, though my consciousness wasn't fully programmed until it was time to leave. I never actually got to see the home of mankind, save for the event of its destruction." She spoke almost wistfully, with a slight tinge of regret marking her voice.

"Wow…" Rocky breathed. He suddenly remembered; he should show all this to Ian. He pulled out his radio. "Hey, Ian, where the hell are you? I've found something that you've _got_ to see! I can't explain over the radio, just come down here! Look for closet with buttons near the door, marked with numbers. Ian, do you hear me?"

Static burst over the radio. "Ian? Speak up. Ian!"

Sara looked at the walkie-talkie with interest. "You said you found this place by accident. Did you take the radio with you through the entrance?"

"Yeah. We were searching this old mansion for interesting things, and my friend was on the second floor while I walked through this cave into this—I guess it's a ship? I've tried calling Ian down here twice before, but I never got an answer." Only now did it occur to Rocky that the lack of an answer was strange. His brow furrowed. _Did something go wrong? Did Ian fall into a hole or get hurt?_ Rocky thought in worry, beginning to panic.

Sara saw the look on his face and said calmly, "Don't worry; I'm sure your friend is fine. You just passed through the EMP shield when you walked up to the entrance. All communication with the outside has been shut down to preserve systems power and prevent discovery by the enemy. Once you passed through the threshold, you would've lost communication with your friend. You should be able to call him by heading topside again. But first, you're going to want to grab that blue pack hanging on the wall behind you—it contains equipment for your arm."

Rocky pulled down the pod-shaped blue backpack, pulling it over his right shoulder, and grabbing his other backpack with his left arm. "Okay, thanks. Now I need to go get my friend and get out of here." Between all the excitement, Rocky had lost track of how long they had been down here, and he noted with fear that the last thing he'd want is to be caught rooting around down here.

As he turned to leave, he heard Sara call out, "Wait." He turned toward her questioningly.

Her 'eyes' looked up at him hopefully. "Take me with you. Please."

Rocky cocked his head. "What?"

"I don't want to be here anymore. You came for the installation. My job is finished. Please don't leave me here alone again."

Rocky's eyes softened with pity. This…'person' had been locked down here for the better part of a little over a thousand years all by herself. He couldn't even imagine what that would do to a _human,_ let alone a 'smart' artificial intelligence (whatever that is). "Alright, but let's make it quick," he said quietly. "What do you need me to do?"

The eyes looked thankful. "Thank you," she said softly. "Okay, just follow my instructions. On the console should be a blue button, marked with the word 'Eject'. Push that button and a chip will slide out. On your arm at the shoulder should be a little slot; insert that chip and I'll be able to act as an interface with the systems in your arm and connect with the nanomachines in your new neural hub."

Nanomachines? Neural hub? What the hell was this lady talking about? "Um…what?"

"Just push the button, take the card and stick it in your arm."

"Okay, got it." He pushed the button marked 'eject', and the woman and her stage of light disappeared in a haze of static, allowing silence and darkness to enter the room again. Out of the cylindrical console popped a small blue square, which Rocky grabbed and slid into a slot in his arm, while a little red light he hadn't noticed before began to flash green.

_-Okay, I'm in.-_

Rocky jumped, looking around wildly for the source of the voice. "What…?"

_-I said I'd be interfacing with the neural hub established in your brain. When your arm was installed, you were injected with nanomachines; tiny machines coursing through your bloodstream, regulating some of your body's internal functions. Some of them lodged into the grey matter in your skull to form a network that would allow you to interface with them—think of them as being like a computer lodged in your brain.-_

"What's a computer?"

Silence fell for a moment.

_-...Never mind.-_

"So wait, you're in my head?"

_-Yes. From your arm I can interface with your core systems, allowing me to speak to you directly. I can also set up radio frequencies for communication and remotely access nearby tech. I can also access your conscious thoughts as a form of feedback, so I'd suggest you start thinking your responses to me, instead of saying them aloud; as I understand it, most human cultures tend to be wary of those who talk aloud to voices only they can hear.-_

Rocky nodded to himself. _Fair enough._ he thought back. This was just too weird. -_Alright, let's just head topside.-_

They didn't have a moment to lose; he started sprinting out the room and back the way he came, taking the elevator back up to the floor he entered on, and running back through the cave, stopping to find the haze of light he had passed through unnoticed before, the slight haze now appearing like a bright red curtain to him. How had he missed this the first time through? -_I take it this is that EMP field you were talking about? Why is it that I can see it so much better now?- _he thought to the woman in his head.

_-Your vision is augmented by the nanomachines, among other things. It lets you see better in the dark—you'll also be able to see wavelengths normally invisible to the naked human eye, if you wish._ Sara responded._ Just go through, I'll explain it to you later.-_

Rocky warily passed through the light, breathing a sigh of relief when nothing bad happened. Just then his radio suddenly burst with static, almost making him jump up to the ceiling. "Rocky," said Ian's familiar voice frantically. "Rocky, where are you? C'mon man, I can't help you if you don't answer me."

Rocky grabbed his radio off his belt. "Ian, it's me. Sorry, I think the battery on your radio is low. What's going on?"

"Rocky? Oh, thank the Light! I've been trying to call you for over half an hour now! Where are you?"

"I'm in the basement again. There's a cave that leads underground. I've found some cool stuff that I brought back up with me. Where are you? I'll head up your way."

Rocky passed through the old wooden door and walked across the basement to trot up the steps, without being careful of the rotting wood. His foot fell through midway up, and as Rocky yelped, he flailed out with his free hand for something to grab. His hand grasped a handhold, and he was able to pull himself up, only to realize with astonishment that the fingers of his right hand were lodged in the wall. He removed his hand fairly easily, and continued to carefully climb the stairs (carefully, this time), staring at his new hand all the while.

The door opened and Rocky raced through the mildew stank of the kitchen into the main hall, finding Ian there waiting for him. Ian looked immediately at Rocky's right arm. "Rock…what the hell?"

Rocky rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah…about that." He explained the situation to him. When Rocky finished talking, Ian's face turned the same color as the mansion's yellowing walls.

"You…lost…your _ARM!?"_ Ian just barely managed to choke out between dry lips as he swallowed.

Rocky lifted up his prosthetic as proof. "It's alright though, because I've got a new one." Ian could only squeak out a small wail in response.

"There's something else, too," said the amputee, who asked aloud, "Hey, Sara, you said you could establish radio frequencies, right? Any way you could patch into my walkie-talkie here and introduce yourself?"

Ian gave Rocky an odd look, before static blew up over the latter boy's radio, out of which emerged a woman's voice. _"You mean like this?"_ came the query.

The green-haired boy looked hesitantly at the little voice-box. "Umm, who's that?"

Rocky pointed to the radio in his metal hand. "That's Sara. She's a, uh…inter-whatsis…"

"_An interface for the Cruiser _Prometheus,_"_ Sara finished. Rocky nodded along in rhythm with her words.

"Yeah," the boy commented, "she's like I guess what our grandparents or the city Elders would call an oracle. Apparently, she's been here since the days of X."

Ian's eyes went wide. "The Fourth Warrior?" he exclaimed. Rocky nodded.

"_What's all this 'Fourth Warrior' talk?"_ Sara asked, sounding confused.

Ian looked at the radio like it was about to spontaneously combust. "Er…" he began.

"Religious thing," Rocky waved it off. "I'll explain it to you later."

"Whatever man, look," said Ian, his eyes shifting toward the dirty windows, old smears smothering the image of a darkening sky. "It's getting late, and curfew's coming. We need to get out of here before the late night city patrols start rolling in. We can talk about…that," his eye drifted to Rocky's metal appendage, "in the morning, alright? Here," Ian took off his blue pinstriped hoodie, handing it to his friend.

"You're going to want to cover that arm when you get home—you don't want your parents to freak. Especially with your shirt all covered in blood."

Rocky took the jacket off Ian's arm and pulled it on. "Thanks, man."

Ian held up a hand. "Keep it; looks better on you anyway.

* * *

A half hour's bus ride and ten minute's walk later, Rocky found himself treading up the large driveway of his parents' large home. The front façade displayed a shining face of two story's worth of glass, normally lit up with fire against the rising sun now reflected a cool pool of moonlight shimmering like a mirror. When he reached the front door, he pulled out his key ring, unlocked the three separate locks (handle, deadbolt and combination padlock), and admitted himself into his abode.

_-Kind of overkill on the security, don't you think?-_ Sara pondered as Rocky headed to the kitchen to find himself something to eat.

_-You would be too if your family owned the greatest controlling interest in the highest-ranking agricultural corporation on Demeter.-_

Sara asked, -_Your family has connections with the owners?-_

Rocky smiled to himself as he pulled open the fridge door to find some leftover lasagna from the previous night's dinner. Putting the plate in the microwave, he thought back to the voice in his head ruefully, -_My dad IS the owner. He's the CEO of the Scion Agricultural Foundation.-_

_-Wow,-_ said Sara, impressed.

_-Yeah, I don't normally try to bring it up in conversation at school, because I prefer my friends to actually get to know me instead of asking me for favors. I figure you don't have much use for human concerns, so it's okay to tell you.-_

_-Because I'm not your friend?- _asked Sara, matter-of-factly, making the sentence seem almost harsh in Rocky's head.

_-I don't know. Not sure what to think about you at the moment. You didn't warn me about that Arm-Remover, but you did help me get a new one, so I guess we're even. I don't know enough about you to call you friend, just yet.-_

Rocky could almost _feel_ Sara chuckling inside his head. -_Fair enough.-_

Silence passed for a few minutes while Rocky sat, eating his food. Then Sara asked, -_Your friend had a point, you know. How are you going to hide your arm? I can't imagine your parents will be pleased, and you look about a schoolboy's age. What will you do to keep people from finding out?-_

_-I'll just keep wearing jackets and long-sleeves. I'll be able to pass off the blue hand as a glove; I'll wear a blue glove on my real hand to deflect suspicion. If my parents and instructors give me weird looks, I'll just explain it as part of some weird fashion trend I heard about in a magazine or saw on TV or something.-_

Another pause as Rocky finished up his lasagna, the only sound in the room being the clinking of his silverware against the plate. All finished, Rocky picked up his plate, brought it to the sink, and began to rinse it.

_-Okay, one last question.- _Sara said to (metaphorically) break the silence punctuated by the running faucet.

_-Shoot.-_

_-What was that 'religious thing' you were talking about earlier? It sounded like you were making me out to be some kind of oracle.-_

Rocky chuckled to himself, shoving his plate and silverware into the empty dishwasher. -_Oh, that. Well, you already know how X had Demeter settled after the Exodus of Earth?-_

_-Yeah,- _said Sara.

_-Well, after X formed the land of Demeter to suit the Peoples of Man, he left to continue fighting the Dark Machines. But before he disappeared, he left behind an old record of the war—called the Archives—to be preserved by the first High Elder of Demeter for future generations. Long after the original Archives withered with time, new generations of High Elders have taken care to recreate the documents as best they can, and continue to spread the story in the form of the Demeter Chronicles, which is like a record of the history of Demeter since the first colony was founded._

_While the general gist of the X and Mankind's origins on Earth still remain in the two Sagas of Earth at the beginning of the Chronicles, the details of the story have gotten lost through the ages. So goes the story, anyway, _finished Rocky. _I confess I never really put that much stock in the stories of the Elders before. But since you exist and apparently knew X, I guess they can't be that far-fetched.-_

_-Yeah, I knew him,-_ said Sara, -_but the General was mostly just a guy. Don't get me wrong, he was a brilliant leader and a hero in the eyes of many, but the people of your planet almost make him out to be a kind of god.-_

_-Not a god exactly,- _said Rocky, -_More like a messenger. His title is the Fourth Warrior, not the Fourth God.-_

_-So, like a Messiah, then?-_ asked Sara.

_-What's a Messiah?-_

_-A Hebrew word; it refers to a sort of spiritual savior or leader anointed by a god.-_

_-What's Hebrew?-_

_-A language from Earth, ancient and long dead by the time of X's activation,- _Sara explained.

_-Well, considering that it's generally accepted that X was crafted as the Fourth Warrior by the Light, then I suppose you're right. X is seen as a Messiah on Demeter. Well, on the continents of Zeus and Hera, anyway. The people of the lands of Hades believe differently, and nobody knows about the Forbidden Continent.-_

_-Huh. Well, in that case,- _Sara replied as Rocky began climbing the stairs to his room. -_I guess your people's view of X isn't that far off, though he'd still probably say that you all are making him look grander than he actually is.-_

_-We probably are,- _retorted Rocky. He yawned, undressing down to his underwear before flopping onto the bed. -_Anyway, not that talking with you isn't interesting, I'm tired—I'm going to bed. Do you sleep?-_

_-I haven't gone through any rest cycles the whole period I was underground. Usually in normal circumstances, my systems would be permitted to undergo temporary sleep cycles to cool down while the ship's automated functions take over, but those failsafes wore off years ago. But now that I'm living in your brain, I can just take cooling cycles while only the external nanomachines in your blood keep running to improve homeostasis for your body's major functions. Basically, I sleep when you do now.-_

Rocky pulled the covers over himself. -_Okay. Well, goodnight then, Sara.-_

_-Goodnight, Rocky.-_

Rocky reached up to the lamp above his bed, and pulled the cord, filling the room with darkness.

* * *

**A/N: Anyway, so sorry for the delay. I've just been busy for the past couple of weeks. I should have another chapter ready in about two weeks, but I'm making no promises. As for the remake of _Return of Lost Memories,_ I was probably really hasty in promising a simultaneous release, and for that I apologize. But just as a heads up, I would expect that story to be delayed until further notice as I focus on making some headway with _Demeter._**

**Anyway, that's it. Read, review, and let me know what you think!**

**-Peace.**


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